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 ORIENTALIA LOVANIENSIA
ANALECTA
————— 219 —————

SEALS AND SEALING PRACTICES IN THE NEAR EAST

Developments in Administration and Magic from Prehistory

to the Islamic Period
Proceedings of an International Workshop
at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo
on December 2-3, 2009

edited by

ILONA REGULSKI, KIM DUISTERMAAT and

PETER VERKINDEREN

UITGEVERIJ PEETERS en DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIES

LEUVEN – PARIS – WALPOLE, MA
2012

95282_Regulski OLA vwk III 14/09/12 15:06

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contributors to this volume vii

Programme of the conference ix

Preface xi

I. Regulski xiii
Introduction

K. Duistermaat
Which Came First, the Bureaucrat or the Seal?
Some Thoughts on the Non-Administrative Origins of Seals 1
in Neolithic Syria

V. Müller
Do Seal Impressions Prove a Change in the Administration 17
during the Reign of King Den?

H. Tomas
The Transition from the Linear A to the Linear B Sealing 33
System

U. Dubiel
Protection, Control and Prestige – Seals among the Rural 51
Population of Qau-Matmar

K. Vandorpe and B. Van Beek

“Non Signat Aegyptus”? Seals and Stamps in the 81
Multicultural Society of Greco-Roman Egypt

N.C. Ritter
On the Development of Sasanian Seals and Sealing Practice: 99
A Mesopotamian Approach

B. Caseau
Magical Protection and Stamps in Byzantium 115

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 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS

J.-Cl. Cheynet and B. Caseau 133

Sealing Practices in the Byzantine Administration

C. Kotsifou
Sealing Practices in the Monasteries of Late Antique and 149
Early Medieval Egypt

P.M. Sijpesteijn 163

Seals and Papyri from Early Islamic Egypt

E. Fernández Medina 175

The Seal of Solomon: From Magic to Messianic Device

S. Dorpmüller 189
Seals in Islamic Magical Literature

K.R. Schaefer 209

Block Printing as an Extension of the Practice of Stamping

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 WHICH CAME FIRST, THE BUREAUCRAT OR THE SEAL?
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE NON-ADMINISTRATIVE ORIGINS OF
SEALS IN NEOLITHIC SYRIA
1
KIM DUISTERMAAT

Introduction

The rather futile question whether the chicken or the egg was first,
has occupied our minds at least since Aristotle.2 In the minds of
archaeologists,3 seals are so much linked to bureaucracy that the
title of my paper will sound equally trivial to some. However, the
question whether the use of stamps and seals predates bureaucracy
is neither irrelevant nor unsolvable, unlike our feathered friends’
dilemma.
Whenever stamps or seal-like devices are found at archaeological
sites, most archaeologists conclude that some kind of admini-
stration or bureaucracy must have existed, even when no other
evidence for such organisations is found. Seals are often seen as
intrinsically administrative tools. However, evidence from
Neolithic Syria shows that stamps were already in use long before
they were employed as seals in a control system. This indicates that
not every stamp necessarily is a seal in the administrative sense of
the word.4 These stamps were used for non-administrative
purposes, including decoration and magical protection. Apotropaic
properties have always, up to the present day, contributed to the
power of seals and the act of sealing, as several papers in this
volume show. Moreover, when a sealing system did emerge, in the
Late Neolithic period, seals were used by large numbers of people
to control their stored private goods. Sealing systems were in place
1
I thank Olivier Nieuwenhuyse, Judith Weingarten and Ilona Regulski for their
valuable comments on a first draft of this paper.
2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_or_the_egg last accessed 10 July 2011.
3
At least those working in the past, say, 25 years; before that, the art historical
and iconographical study of seals and the (religious, mythical, natural, etc.)
themes depicted on them was more en vogue.
4
For this reason, in this article I will use the word ‘stamp’ for any stamping
device regardless of its function in administrative practices, while I reserve the
word ‘seal’ or ‘stamp seal’ for those stamps that had a proven role in the
authentication or protection of goods or spaces.

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 2 KIM DUISTERMAAT

before bureaucratic or hierarchical administrative systems

emerged and elites began to exploit the power of seals.

Stamps before seals

It is obvious that we can only speak of a sealing system when we

have evidence for the use of seals to authenticate, control, or
protect the integrity of goods, spaces or documents. Without
material evidence like seal impressions on bullae, lids, tablets,
labels or other such supports, or without references to the
existence of a sealing system in contemporary texts, we cannot
conclude that a stamping device was used as a seal in a control
system. This is especially relevant for early periods, before the
emergence of wide-spread bureaucratic structures and admini-
strations. However, also in later periods many stamps were not part
of a sealing system but served other purposes (even if other
contemporary stamps were part of such a system).

Fig. 1: Map of Syria and the location of Neolithic sites discussed in the text.

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 WHICH CAME FIRST, THE BUREAUCRAT OR THE SEAL? 3

In Syria (Fig. 1), the earliest stamp-like devices were found at

sites dating to the Late PPNB period and the Early Pottery Neolithic
period (Table 1).5 Society at this time is characterized by many
small family-based farming communities, with the occasional
larger settlement. Hunting and foraging was an important part of
subsistence strategies. There is no evidence for the existence of a
hierarchical social segmentation. There is ample and, at times,
spectacular evidence for ritual in the widest sense of the word,
including elaborate burial practices, depictions of symbols, animals
and people in naturalistic and stylized ways and in a variety of
media, and central buildings that functioned as shrines or cult
centres (Akkermans and Schwartz 2003: 57-98).

Late Pre-pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) c. 7500 – c. 7000 cal. BCE

Initial and Early Pottery Neolithic (EPN) c. 7000 – c. 6300 cal. BCE
Pre-Halaf Neolithic c. 6300 – c. 6000 cal. BCE
Transitional c. 6000 – c. 5850 cal. BCE
Early Halaf Period c. 5850 – c. 5500 cal. BCE

Table 1: the chronology of the Late Neolithic period in Syria.

The earliest objects with engraved patterns and images similar to

later stamps are the stone ‘tablets’ from Jerf al-Ahmar (Stordeur and
Jammous 1995, 1997; Tallon and Van Lerberghe 1997: 187) and other
sites in the region, dating to the PPNA period (10th-9th millennium
BCE) (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Incised stone plaquettes from Jerf al-Ahmar. From Tallon and Van
Lerberghe 1997: cat. no. 1-2, p. 187.

5
For an overview of Neolithic glyptic from Western Asia, including references
to the original publications, see Von Wickede 1990.

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 4 KIM DUISTERMAAT

Many of these stones are decorated with geometrical shapes and

patterns. More exceptional, the naturalistic images of vultures,
quadrupeds, snakes and schematic human figures found on stones
from Jerf al-Ahmar and Göbekli Tepe (Turkey) form an intriguing set
of symbols. These images are not only part of the contemporary
visual tradition, but are also echoed in the glyptic of the Bronze Age
thousands of years later. Not only the techniques used in later
glyptic for carving images on small stones, but conceivably also the
wider framework of (religious or mythical) ideas was already present
in these early periods (Costello 2011; Stein 2006).
Early stamps, shaped similar to later stamp seals, occur from the
PPNB period onwards and take a variety of shapes and forms. They
include conical or pyramidal stone stamps with geometric patterns
engraved on the flat surface. They rarely have holes for suspending
the stamp from a thread. Examples of such stamps come from Ras
Shamra,6 el-Kowm 2, Bouqras (Von Wickede 1990), and, more
recently excavated, Tell Ain el-Kerkh and Tell Shir (Bartl et al. 2009;
personal communication by K. Bartl, 2-2-2009) (Fig. 3). Smooth
pebbles and flat stone pendants with incised geometric patterns on
one of the flat surfaces also still exist, like those from Sabi Abyad
(Fig.4) or el-Kowm 2.

Fig. 3: Stamps from Tell Shir (top: SH07-028, below: SH07-125). Courtesy of
K. Bartl.

6
Although it should perhaps be dated later, cf. Duistermaat in press.

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 WHICH CAME FIRST, THE BUREAUCRAT OR THE SEAL? 5

Fig. 4: Incised pebble and ‘amulet’ from Early Pottery Neolithic Tell Sabi
Abyad (left: Z03-12; right: S08-15).

Perhaps the most discussed stamps from this period are the so-
called ‘pintaderas’, clay stamps with geometrical patterns on their
flat or slightly convex stamp surfaces, and generally much larger
than the later stamp seals. These stamps are found in large
numbers at Neolithic sites from south-eastern Europe to north-
western Syria, exhibiting strikingly similar features all over this
large region. In the northern Levant, these clay stamps were found
for example at Byblos (Von Wickede 1990: 65 Abb. 26), Halula (Tallon
and Van Lerberghe 1997: 188) and Tell el-Kerkh (Tsuneki and Hydar
2007: 15, lower left), while large amounts were found at the Turkish
site of Çatalhöyük (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Clay stamps of the ‘pintaderas’ type from Çatalhöyük (Turkey).

From Turkcan 2006: Fig. 8.1 nos. 1-6, p. 176.

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 6 KIM DUISTERMAAT

Interestingly, some stamps from the latter site have animal or

human shapes, such as a hand or a bear (Türkcan 2007).
What is important for our discussion here, is the complete
absence in the archaeological record of any imprints of stamps. In
later periods, the preferred medium to monitor access to closed
goods or doors with seal impressions was clay, while occasionally
gypsum or bitumen was used. These materials are easily preserved
in archaeological contexts of this region; however, up to about 6300
cal. BCE no impressions have been found. We must conclude that
the earliest stamps were not used in administrative contexts or in a
control system.
But then, how were these stamps used, on what medium and
why? There seems to be agreement on the fact that the pintaderas
were printing tools, designed to reproduce patterns on a variety of
media. Techniques would have included the use of pigments7 for
pattern transfer on (human or animal) skin8 or textiles, and simple
transfer of the pattern relief in soft materials like butter, wax or
dough (Skeates 2007: 183, 195).
Early stamps have been found in a variety of archaeological
contexts, including domestic areas, ritual settings and burials
(Türkcan 2006: 175-8). They seem to have been home-made objects
of everyday use, with a strong connection to the individual. The
stamp surfaces show symmetrical or explicitly asymmetrical
geometrical patterns including nesting zigzags, spirals or
concentric circles, grids, parallel lines and dots. Stamps in animal
or human shapes exist, but the depiction of recognizable creatures
on the stamp surface dates to a somewhat later period (see below).
However, there is evidence in this period for the depiction of
animals and humans in other media such as wall paintings and
stone sculptures. In fact, there are strong links between patterns
used on early stamps and those on other media, and they are
arguably part of the same visual language (Costello 2011: 256;
Naumov 2008: 194; Fig. 10). It is striking to see that the patterns
look similar on stamps - especially the clay ‘pintaderas’ - from
regions as far apart as Macedonia and northern Syria and that, even
so, no two stamps are the same (Türkcan 2006; Skeates 2007;
Naumov 2008: Fig. 6).
7
Traces of pigments were found in some pintaderas from Tell Ain el-Kerkh,
personal communication by A. Tsuneki 19-9-2008.
8
Technological and archaeometric research should be carried out to confirm
whether these stamps could have been used to brand livestock.

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 WHICH CAME FIRST, THE BUREAUCRAT OR THE SEAL? 7

Like all other forms of representation, the patterns on the

stamps must have had meaning. Possibly, the geometric patterns
found their origin in visual effects experienced during various
states of trance or hallucination (entoptic images) (Costello 2011:
258-9; Stein 2006). If so, this would relate the patterns to a specific
ritual sphere. The suggestion that the symmetrical composite
designs such as zigzags and pseudo meanders may be depictions of
cycles observed in the sun and moon (Türkcan 2006: 181) nicely fits
in with the suggestion that the more figurative elements of earlier
(like those from Jerf al-Ahmar) and later designs are part of
cosmology and the representation of the trio heaven - earth -
underworld (Costello 2011). Others (Naumov 2008) draw parallels
with modern artefacts, and suggest that the stamps were used to
decorate (ritual) bread (see also Caseau in this volume for
Byzantine examples). The imagery on the stamps would then relate
to concepts of protection, life, death, and fertility. Scholars have
pointed out the roughly contemporaneous appearance of stamps
and the transition to a Neolithic way of life, involving animal
husbandry and farming, and suggest there may be a link between
the two (Türkcan 2006: 183; Naumov 2008: 192; Costello 2011: 257).
The fact that many stamps seem to intentionally display similar
patterns or variations on a theme (as if to stress the affiliation
between them), and the fact that they were found in burials, led to
the idea that these stamps and patterns may relate to concepts of
identity (Türkcan 2006: 183).
These few examples suffice to indicate that interpretations of the
designs on early stamps are many and varied. There may have been
various messages hidden in the patterns, these messages may have
been more or less obvious to the audience of the impressions, and
they may have shifted over time and from region to region. These
meanings were attached or transferred ‘magically’ to another
object through the act of stamping.

Seals before bureaucracy

A primary function of a sealing is to record evidence of tampering.

Seals and sealings ultimately do not protect against theft or fraud
like a lock would do; they just signal that someone has attempted to
gain access (Johnston 2006). There is no reason why seals, by
definition, should be part of a bureaucratic system, not only in the
Neolithic but in all periods. When studying seals and their contexts

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 8 KIM DUISTERMAAT

of use, we always have to keep in mind that they may have served
non-administrative purposes (such as magic, ritual, or decoration)
or that their controlling functions may have been limited to local,
even domestic systems unrelated to the elite or state bureaucratic
structures in place.9
When a control system using seals appeared in the Neolithic, it
operated in the absence of a hierarchical bureaucratic structure,
such as a government or a temple administration. Elsewhere, I have
argued that the earliest seals were used by large numbers of people
- whether individuals or groups - to protect their private property
against tampering, and that they did so in contexts where circum-
stances forced them to hand over the direct supervision over their
stored properties to others in their own community (Duistermaat
2010; in press; Akkermans and Duistermaat 1997).
The earliest seals that were used in a control system, as far as we
know now, date to about 6300 cal. BCE, in the late Early Pottery
Neolithic period or the early Pre-Halaf Neolithic in Syria (Table 1).
Society at this time saw a number of profound cultural changes.
Over a rather short period of time, spanning a few centuries at
most, new forms of architecture were introduced, changes took
place in subsistence strategies (including a bigger reliance on
pastoralism), and new aspects of material culture were introduced,
such as busily decorated pottery (Van der Plicht et al. 2011, see also
Akkermans and Schwartz 2003). The new role of stamps was part of
a process of transition that encompassed all sectors of society.
Around 6300 cal. BCE, people started to close containers (baskets,
pottery jars, etc. - not doors) with a lump of wet clay, impressed
with a stamp seal. Several of these sealings were found at Tell Ain
el-Kerkh in western Syria (Tsuneki et al. 1997: 31, Fig. 24; 1998: 23-
26, Fig. 17; 1999: 17-18, Fig. 13, Pls. 8 and 11; Tsuneki and Hydar
2007), while hundreds of them (dating a bit later) were found at Tell
Sabi Abyad (Duistermaat 1996). Impressions of seals have also been
found on large plaster or gypsum slabs, possibly lids, at Bouqras
and Tell el-Kowm (Von Wickede 1990: 42-49, Taf. 6-13). When
stamps started to be used as seals, the ‘pintadera’ type of stamp
seems to have disappeared (Duistermaat 2010: Table 1); apparently,
either the practice died out or their function was taken over by
other objects such as seals.

9
Cf. Weingarten (2010: 320) for a similar argument about prepalatial Aegean
seals.

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 WHICH CAME FIRST, THE BUREAUCRAT OR THE SEAL? 9

The iconography on the earliest seals builds on preceding visual

traditions. Many motifs are comparable to those on the earlier
stamps, including zigzags, s-shapes, grids, and nested diamonds. In
addition, designs with a naturalistic nature now appear for the first
time on the stamp face. These images include caprids, stylized
bull’s horns, stylized trees or plants, stylized ‘eyes’, and a schematic
human figure (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Clay sealings with seal impressions from Tell Sabi Abyad, Operation
I Level 6. From Duistermaat 1996: Figs. 5.8 no. 8, 5.9 no. 11, 5.12 nos. 3 and
7, 5.14 no. 5.

As in the previous period, these patterns are part of a wider

contemporaneous iconographic tradition also expressed in wall
paintings, figurines, and pottery decoration. Interestingly, in his
analysis of the design structure of pottery decoration and patterns
on other media, Olivier Nieuwenhuyse suggested that figurative art
in this period can be characterized by a structured set of stylistic
oppositions related to meaning, use and audience. The designs on
the seals then would have been part of a group of designs with
specific meanings as opposed to generalized meanings, associated
with storage rather than serving and consumption, and intended
for a local or domestic setting rather than a wider audience. The
iconic symbols on wall paintings, pottery or seals may also have
had protective powers (Nieuwenhuyse 2007: 205-212).

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 10 KIM DUISTERMAAT

There are also other indications that seals and sealings in this
period were not purely control tools but had other, non-
administrative functions as well. For example, at Sabi Abyad, there
is a strong contextual connection between clay sealings, clay
miniature vessels, tokens and pottery discs, and human and animal
figurines. Possibly, some of these items represented goods (tokens,
discs) while others represented services or livestock (figurines) in
some kind of incipient administrative system (Akkermans and
Duistermaat 1997). However, a ritual or magical interpretation is
generally easily accepted for figurines; the association with sealings
may suggest that the latter played some role in the realm of magic
as well. Perhaps, the sealings protected the stored items not only in
a physical, but also in a magical way, or perhaps the sealed items
were not limited to commodities but also included items with ritual
significance (such as the figurines themselves).
At Tell Ain el-Kerkh10 until now fifteen stamp seals have been
found in nine burials. This corroborates the existing evidence for
the wide-spread use of seals in society and their accessibility to
many people. Their inclusion in the burials is indicative of their
strong link to the individual. The seal both represented the person
and their powers, and provided protection to their owners.

Continuities

The non-administrative functions and uses of seals already

apparent in the Neolithic continue in later periods in Mesopotamia.
Seals were administrative tools, but they were also jewels, amulets,
status symbols and identity markers. From the Bronze Age
onwards, literary texts, inscriptions on seals and iconography
provide information on the use of seals in magic and ritual.11
However, research on seals and sealings focuses mostly on their
administrative roles, and an extensive study of the use of seals in
magic and ritual in Mesopotamia still has to be written. The below
is a very brief account of the variety of sources at our disposal.
Perhaps the strongest connection between the seal and its
magical properties is made in the iconography depicted on the
seals themselves. This imagery becomes easier to understand and

10
Personal communication A. Tsuneki, 27-1-2011.
11
A now somewhat outdated but interesting introduction to the theme is
presented by Beatrice Goff (1956).

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 WHICH CAME FIRST, THE BUREAUCRAT OR THE SEAL? 11

interpret as soon as seal iconography moves away from purely

geometric patterns, and the figures of humans, animals, gods,
demons, and a wide variety of ‘Mischwesen’ start to appear, from
about the fourth millenium BCE. Glyptic art ultimately becomes one
of the best sources of religious iconography (Black and Green 1992:
19). Recognizable scenes with magical and protective connotations
include those showing the ‘magical’ treatment of sick people, and
scenes with deities, priest-kings, protective genii (fish-men,
griffins, etc.) and mythical heroes (Salje 1997). Scenes on seals also
give some insight in the setting, attributes and enactment of rituals
and religious gatherings. Seals were sometimes dedicated to deities
and presented as votive gifts in temples (Collon 1987: 135, 165-177).
Of course, seal iconography covered a multitude of themes,
encompassing all aspects of life. Scenes with obvious magical,
protective or religious aspects comprise only part of all known
Mesopotamian glyptic, and their popularity varied from period to
period.
Seals were worn on the body and were an expression of social
status. The material of the seal (the rareness, hardness and color of
the stone) and its metal fitting, the imagery and the craftsmanship
of the carving all played a part in the expression of these values. As
in prehistory, seals were strongly tied to the individual throughout
Mesopotamian history. Seals were used as highly personal amulets
with strong protective properties (Collon 1987: 119; Black and
Green 1992: 30; Salje 1997: 127). The identification of the seal with
its owner went so far that the loss of the seal was felt as the loss of
identity, which had to be repaired with a ritual (Salje 1995: 601;
Maul 1994). As in the Neolithic, seals were part of burial inventories
and were often found near the wrist or on the chest, or as part of
necklaces. Apart from belonging to the deceased’s private property,
seals in burials had an amuletic function. This is exemplified by the
find of multiple, often very old seals in neo-Babylonian burials at
Uruk. The apotropaic properties of the seals themselves, the
imagery on the seals and the magical powers of the stones may
have been as important as the link with the buried person (Salje
1995).
The amuletic character of seals is also expressed in textual
sources. In texts dealing with spells and rituals against miscarriage,
black magic and diseases, seals are mentioned among the objects,
herbs and other attributes needed for the ritual. Seals play a role
similar to other amulets and precious or semi-precious stones; the

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 12 KIM DUISTERMAAT

stones had particular meanings and powers. The seals were strung
on threads and had to be worn by the patient to work their magic
(Collon 1987: 119; Salje 1997: 125; Maul 1994).
Finally, both archaeology and texts give clues towards the
metaphorical aspect of the act of sealing. The verb ‘to seal’ (kanãku,
kanku, CAD K; Black 2000: 146) is used not only in the literary sense
of securing with a seal, but similary to modern practices it also
means ‘to close up’. For example, a part of the body, such as lips or
the womb during childbirth, can be ‘sealed’, and incantations were
used to release the spell. An archaeological example may be the
sealing of a cremation burial from the Late Bronze Age (Akkermans
and Smits 2008). The ashes of the cremation pyre and associated
burial gifts were put in a ceramic jar, which was then closed with a
piece of cloth and a rope. The clay sealing was put over the knot in
the rope and impressed with a cylinder seal, thus securing the
contents. We can hardly imagine that the sealing here served
administrative or control purposes; rather, it would have served to
keep the burial closed and protected against outside influences (or
to keep the genie in the bottle, so to speak) in a metaphorical or
symbolic sense.

Conclusion: the power of sealing

Goods were never protected against fraud only by the sealing clay
or the seal impression. Counterfeiting must have been technically
possible without much effort (Johnston et al. 2001).12 The sealing
does not physically prevent tampering, but warns the trespasser
that someone is keeping check. To the owner of the goods, a broken
sealing is a record of the fact that someone tampered with the
sealed goods (Johnston 2006).
However, people not only first developed stamps with non-
administrative purposes in mind, as shown above, but they
attributed apotropaic qualities to seals throughout history until the
Islamic period (cf. Dorpmüller and Fernandez Medina in this
volume). We should not forget that even during the administrative
sealing of tablets or goods, the magical powers of the seal and the
12
Although seals were copied and recut in antiquity (Collon 1987: 96, 120-122),
it is not clear whether these were meant to deceive or whether they were bona
fide copies. Fake clay sealings have not been found, to my knowledge, and would
indeed be very difficult to identify. Counterfeiting of seals and sealings is known
from later periods, see for example Cheynet and Caseau in this volume.

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 WHICH CAME FIRST, THE BUREAUCRAT OR THE SEAL? 13

act of sealing were of key importance for the functioning of the

sealing system. Tampering with sealed goods was against the rules,
but could also evoke the magical powers inherent in the sealing. It
is not so much the clay sealing that protects, but rather the act of
sealing, the act of (magically) transferring the properties of the seal
to the sealing and through it, to the items under seal. The clay
sealing then is the material witness of this act.
When looking at the history of seals in Mesopotamia, it becomes
clear that the primary functions and uses of stamps and seals were
decorative, amuletic, ritual or magical, and that they were closely
tied to the individual and notions of identity. Their role in
administrative systems developed only later. Although material
evidence (the use of seals in administration tends to leave more
material traces - sealings, sealed tablets - than their use in magic
and ritual) and research focus have led to the idea that seals were
predominantly bureaucratic tools with a secondary amuletic role, it
is conceivable that their apotropaic significance was at least as
important. Returning to our chicken-and-egg question, it is perfect-
ly clear that seals had their origin in a long tradition of stamping,
and that seals were used before there were bureaucrats.

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AKKERMANS, P.M.M.G. AND DUISTERMAAT, K.

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